Rail for railways



(No Model.)

J. T.,0SHEA. BAIL FOR RAILWAYS.

No. 476,165. Patented May3l, 1892.

Inventor.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. OSHEA, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RAIL FOR RAI LWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,165, dated May 31,1892.

Application filed December 26, 1891. $erial No. 416,264. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN T. OSHEA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful 1m provements in Rails for Railways; andI do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to rails for railways, and it appertains especiallyto the construction of the ends of the rails, the object being toprovide a construction whereby the meeting ends of rails at draw-bridgesmay be brought together into such close metallic contact that theirunion will be practically equal to a coniinuous rail and at the sametime be selflocking and connected or disconnected by less verticalmovement than heretofore. It will be understood that at draw-bridges theend rails on the bridge are necessarily locked with the abutting ends ofthe rails at the landing by some means which will make a safe and firmjoint, and these means must be such as will disengage the bridge-railwhen said rail is raised at its outer end preparatory to swinging thebridge and lock the same when the said rail is dropped back intoposition on the return of the bridge.

Various means have from time to time been employed for this purpose; butall such means, so far as I am aware, were of the nature of extraattachments or pieces and required the rail to be raised at least itsfull height or more to clear the abutting rail before the bridge couldbe swung.

a In my construction there are no extra or added parts, and the seat isformed in the ends of the rails themselves. The invention thereforeconsists in the construction substantially as shown and described, andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sectionof the end of a draw-bridge and a corresponding elevation of a sectionof a landing with sections of my improved rails in position thereon, therails being locked one upon the other, as in use. Fig. 2 is a View likeFig. 1, except that the bridgerail is shown as raised to clear thelandingrail. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View of the end of thebridge-rail, showing the bevel on the outer portion of the rail. Fig. atis a perspective view of the end of the landingrail, showing the bevelfrom both sides inward toward the center. Fig. 5 is a side elevationshowing the two rail-sections together and indicating in dotted linesthe relative depth of the inclined and opposite bevels. Fig. 6 is a sideelevation of the rail-sections, showing the bridge-section raised ashigh as need be to clear the other rail. Fig. 7 is a bottom view of theend of the bridge-rail, showing the slightly-greater bevel on the outerside where the main strain on the railoccurs.

A represents a section of a draw-bridge, and B the landing.

O is a section of the bridge-rail, and D a section of the landing-rail.This latter rail is permanently fastened its entire length in any usualway. The rail 0 is supported so as to be movable up and down at itsouter end next to the landing a sufficient distance to clear the fixedrail D. The extent of this vertical movement is determined by the depthof the bevels at the meeting and overlapping ends of the rails and therelative depth is shown in Fig. 6. These bevels are made at an angle ofabout fortyfive degrees to a vertical plane, and on the rail 0 aredenoted by c and o and on the rail D by d and d. The bevels c and 0'form a tongue withits extremity near the center of the rail, while thebevels d and d are out reversely to c and c, converging toward thevertical center of the rail and forming a recess or seat for the saidtongue. Both sets of bevels are cut at exactly the same relative angles,so that when one rail extremity is seated in the other they fit snuglytogether and are in contact atallpoints. This construction forms a seatin the fixed rail, in which the movable rail is held in position on bothsides and makes the most perfeet contact possible longitudinally betweenthe two rails. This contact is of special advantage and value when therail is used as a conductor in electrical railways. The depth of theV-shaped seat in the fixed rail is such that there is no possibility ofthe other rail crowding or working out under heavy pressure and use, sothat the said seat alone is sufficient to hold the free rail in workingposition without other means of connection. Of

course the free or bridge rail is fastened toward its other extremityagainst longitudinal movement, so that it cannot be pressed out of itsseat in that direction.

In order to show some sufficient means for raising the rail 0 when thebridge is to be swung, I show here a cam E, engaging the rail on itsbottom near its front end. This is a well-known way and is not set uphere as original with me. I also show perforations in the rails forbolts, by which fish-bars or other suitable bars or strips may besecured in place across the joint and make a permanent and durableunion.

If an overhead electric system be used, the track for the trolley mightbe constructed at the bridge, exactly as the rails herein shown, bymerely reversing the rails or turning them upside down, and suitablelevers and connections could be made whereby the rails above and belowmight be raised and lowered by the same movement. It will be noticed, asbefore described, that a comparatively slight movement of the rail 0 isrequired to free it from the rail D, While the peculiar construction oftheir ends facilitates their reseating. By making the outer bevel ineach rail deeper than the other more stock is left standing beneath theouter portion of the rail, away from the flange of the Wheel, where thegreater strength is required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A rail having an inclined seat in its end, V shape in cross-section,and a meeting rail constructed at its end to fit in said seat,substantially as described.

2. A railway-rail having a seat in its end inclined from top to bottomand the sides of the seat flaring from about the vertical center of therail and the meeting rail having a tongue held between the-said flarin gsides of the seat, substantially as described.

3. A railway-rail having a seat formed in its end at an angle to avertical plane and having the sides of the seat converging in straightlines to one side of the vertical center of the rail and the meetingrail havingits end made with a beveled tongue to match said seat,substantially as described.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification this 19th day ofNovember, 1801.

JOHN T. OSHEA. Witnesses:

II. T. FISHER, NELLIE L. MoLANE.

